


Wrong Reality

by dk323



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-06-27 11:24:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19789888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dk323/pseuds/dk323
Summary: With Sam near death following the failed Third Trial, Dean calls for Castiel to come. Castiel manages to heal Sam. Soon, they are faced with the consequences of Castiel's actions. Sam and Dean are placed in another reality with seemingly simple instructions. Unfortunately, the brothers soon find out what they need to do to set things right is anythingbutsimple. As Sam and Dean face down another apocalypse, they need to persuade this other reality’s Jimmy Novak to sacrifice himself.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** The TV show “Supernatural” is property of Kripke Enterprises and Warner Bros. Television. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is being made. First bit of dialogue (one line of dialogue removed) is from Season 9, Episode 1. 
> 
> Thank you to my artist, [Cross-Roads-Blues](https://cross-roads-blues.tumblr.com/), for the wonderful art! The art was definitely inspirational, and it was cool to see a scene from the story captured so well. Please check out her amazing art for this story over here: [Art by Cross-Roads-Blues](https://cross-roads-blues.tumblr.com/post/186313533490/loved-arting-for-spncanonbigbang-in-collab-with)
> 
> Thank you to the SPN Canon BB Mods for being so helpful and understanding during this process.

“Cas, are you there? Sammy's hurt. He's hurt, uh – he's hurt pretty bad. And, um... I know you think that I'm pissed at you, okay? So whatever you did or didn't do, it doesn't matter, okay? We'll work it out. Please, man, I need you here.”

Dean looked around, half hoping to see Cas appear, half resigned to him not coming. That Dean had really dropped the ball and Cas was upset with him after their fight. Even if he had, however reluctantly, helped Cas with that Cupid thing.

After a moment or two, Dean was about to try a different course of action to save his brother. But then he heard the familiar rustling of wings behind him. He turned around to face Cas.

“Hello, Dean,” he said quietly.

Dean stared at him. "I wasn't sure you would come. I know we need to talk, but Sam... he needs help fast, and... I know you think I'm angry with you, but--"

"It's all right," Cas told him, though his sad expression told a different story. 

As if Dean's pushing him away still hurt him, but he was setting it aside. The fact he was still here, still willing to come when Dean asked spoke volumes. And left Dean feeling bad for how he had treated him. Though Cas admitted to being brainwashed by Naomi, he still refused to trust Dean with the Angel Tablet even after her control over him broke. That lack of trust in Dean, after all they've been through, did hurt.

"I can see about helping Sam." Cas let him know.

The mention of Sam got Dean out of his thoughts.

Dean stared at him, feeling doubtful. "Do you think you're able to? I mean -- before you said that his injuries were beyond your healing abilities."

"I know. But I'm willing to try. Maybe I can heal him now. I don't want Sam to die any more than you do." Cas assured him, looking over at Dean with his eyes full of determination. 

He wasn't about to admit defeat it seemed and it was as if he wished Dean would feel the same too.

"Thanks, Cas," he said, feeling hopeful that this would work out for Sam's sake. 

But he also couldn't help his doubt that this would fail. Luckily, his need for Sammy to live, to survive, won out. Dean decided he wasn't helping Sam if he lost hope that there was a way to save him. This would work. And if it didn't, then Dean wouldn't give up on him. Not a chance.

Dean led him to Sam's room. He watched anxiously as Cas surveyed Sam, taking note of his injuries.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked when Cas's face fell. 

His hand was on Sam's chest, but it looked like nothing was happening. Sam wasn't waking up, so that was a surefire sign that the usual angelic healing wasn't cutting it.

Cas sighed. He looked up at Dean from his chair by Sam's bed. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Dean. I don't think I can heal him..." He trailed off like there was more, but he wasn't up to discussing whatever it was with Dean.

Dean frowned. "What? There's something else, isn't there? Talk to me, Cas."

"I believe there may be another way."

"Yeah, what is it? Spill."

"I can heal Sam from the inside, but this requires possession."

Dean's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

Cas nodded. "It's all I can think of. Sam doesn't have much time left. It's worth a try."

"How long will it take?" Dean wanted to know.

"With Metatron's Grace, I'm sure I can completely heal Sam in less than a day."

Dean raised his hand. "Wait... hold on. What are you talking about, Cas? You took Metatron's Grace? Now I got to know what the hell went down in Heaven."

"There's little to say. I took Metatron's Grace, killed him, and came to see you after hearing your prayer. The borrowed Grace will eventually burn out, but for now it will do. Together with my own Grace, I will be able to help Sam."

"What made you decide to take out Metatron, Cas? I thought you trusted him? And stealing his Grace-- what was behind that?"

Cas looked frustrated. "It's not the time to discuss this, Dean."

"Oh no. I think it is. I need to know. Now."

"All right. I have become wary of other angels and trusting them. I wanted to trust Metatron, but at the last moment, I chose to attack him. What Naomi said gave me cause for concern. Though she brainwashed me many times, her words stuck. I thought it best to be overly cautious."

"Wasn't killing him enough? Why did you take his Grace?"

"I'm not sure," Cas said, and he sounded honest about that. 

Dean could see from his eyes that he was telling the truth. He looked a little lost, as if he wanted to have a reason for his actions but he couldn't come up with one.

"Well if the extra mojo will help in healing Sammy, then I won't judge."

"Thank you, Dean."

"And hey, maybe you took Metatron’s Grace because a subconscious part of you knew it could help with Sam. You knew he was getting sicker with each Trial. That's not a bad motive."

Cas nodded at him. 

"I need to go inside Sam's mind to ask for his consent. If that works, I'll begin healing him."

"Sounds like a plan."

Cas nodded and then put his hand over Sam's forehead.

Dean wasn't worried about the consent part. While Sam had bad experiences with being possessed, this was different. This was _Cas_. He was like family to them. And if Cas was right and the healing process would only last hours, then Sam had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

~ * ~

Castiel found him with Bobby walking toward a house. 

"Sam," he called to him.

Sam turned around to look at him.

"Cas?" Sam asked in surprise.

"Sam, don't listen to him. He wants you to change your mind. But you got to accept that it's your time to go, son," Bobby said to him urgently. He grabbed his arm, pulling him away from Castiel.

"I understand you feel that it is your time. But I promise I'll do my best to save you," he said in earnest to Sam.

Looking weary, Sam asked, "Are you saying you can heal me now?"

He didn't sound like he believed it. He appeared to be so close to letting go, to allowing Death take him.

Castiel nodded. "I can heal you, Sam. I need to do it from the inside though. For that, I require..."

"You need to possess me. You need my invitation," Sam finished. He sighed, closing his eyes and taking a breath. Bobby looked unhappy and tried to get Sam to move. But Sam stood his ground. "For how long?"

"A day at the most. I'll make it as smooth as possible. I'll let you take control while I focus on fixing you."

"Okay," Sam said.

"Sam, no. You shouldn't. It's your time. You'll finally have peace. Isn't that what you want?"

Sam looked over at Bobby. "I'm sorry. I want to take this chance. I trust Cas."

Bobby disappeared with Sam staring after him with a touch of regret.

"Sam, are you ready?"

Sam swallowed. "Does Dean know about this?"

"Yes. He wants you to live. He prayed for me to help you."

"Thanks, Cas," he said, giving him a small smile. He breathed in and out, then he said, "All right, yes, I'm letting you in."

Castiel touched his shoulder, his eyes glowed a blueish-white and a bright light enveloped them.

~ * ~

Dean stared at Cas's empty vessel. Mostly due to the fact that he was getting too on edge looking at Sam's body just lying there in bed.

He had to be losing it because he swore the vessel was breathing. Then he felt strange thinking of it as just a vessel. But there was no way Jimmy Novak's soul was still inside. The vessel had exploded to pieces after all. 

The vessel opened his eyes and turned to Dean. There was no recognition in his eyes when he looked at Dean, which made no sense. It was a few years ago, yeah, but Jimmy _had_ met him. Before Jimmy had allowed Cas to take him as a vessel again. 

Dean stood up quickly. "What the _\-- Jimmy_?"

He felt someone shaking his shoulder.

"Dean, wake up!" He heard Sam's voice.

With a shout, Dean nearly jumped out of his chair. That was one weird dream. 

"You okay?" Sam asked him.

"Yeah, I'm good. What about you?" Dean wanted to know, looking over his brother.

"I'm feeling better. Cas should fix me up. But we should get back to the bunker. I don't want to stay in this hospital any longer than I have to."

Dean nodded. "With you there. We need to take Cas's vessel with us. If we keep the vessel here, that will draw attention we don't need now."

"You're right."

Sam gave him an odd look. 

"What? What're looking at me like that for? You can get Cas to help with the transport, can't you?"

"Dean, you look spooked... come on, talk to me."

"I just want to get out of here, Sammy." Dean said tiredly, feeling a little irritated with Sam's ill-timed concern.

The sooner he could get that vision or whatever of Jimmy out of his head, the better he'd feel.

When Cas took over, he gave Dean a questioning look like he could tell too that something was wrong. That was definitely weird considering he was now inside Sam and using his face. 

"How are you, Dean?"

"Please, Cas, we need to get out of here. Just do what you need to. I'll drive and meet you back at the bunker."

Cas looked like he wanted to press the point further, but he relented. Dean watched as Cas-- in Sam's body-- put his hand on his vessel's shoulder and they were gone.

Dean took a deep breath, inhaling then exhaling. This unbidden vision of Jimmy Novak...it wasn't some strange thing sprung up from the stress of nearly losing Sammy. Though Dean wished it was as simple as that.

No. Dean couldn't shake the feeling that he had received some kind of warning. What it meant, hell if he had a clue. 

His number one priority now was making sure Cas would be able to fully heal Sam. Everything else would have to take a backseat for the time being.

~ * ~

**_One day later:_ **

Dean looked up from his cup of coffee when he heard Sam enter the kitchen.

"Cas still in you?" He asked, then he frowned, shaking his head and rubbing his face. "Damn, can't believe I just said that."

Sam smiled. He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you really walked into that one." He teased him.

"Haha. Shut up, Sam."

Dean finally got his answer when Cas came into the kitchen. He was back in his usual vessel. 

Dean got a sudden rerun of his earlier vision of the vessel, of Jimmy, awake and staring at him as if Dean were a complete stranger to him. 

Ignoring what he saw, Dean waved his hand out in front of his face as if to swat a fly. But really he wanted to vanquish the vision from his mind's eye. Fortunately, the eerie image didn't linger. 

"Hello, Sam, Dean," Cas said. He looked at Dean strangely, probably noticing his odd behavior. 

"So you're done?" Dean asked, voice rising a bit as if to deter Cas from asking questions Dean didn't want to answer. 

It didn't help either that Sam had given him a "what the hell was that about?" look.

"Thought I saw a fly," Dean said, shrugging it off and giving Sam a hard look to drop it.

"Sam is fully healed." Cas declared.

"That was pretty fast. Only what -- one day?"

"Twenty-three hours, forty-five minutes, and twelve seconds," said Cas. 

"Yeah, thanks again, Cas. I owe you," Sam told him.

Cas gave him a small smile. "I'm glad you are okay, Sam. You--"

Then to Dean's surprise, and he was sure, to Sam's too, Cas disappeared right in front of them before he could finish speaking.

Dean's eyes widened, baffled as he watched the spot where Cas stood just a moment ago.

Sam looked around, worry showing on his face. "Dean, you think...?" he stopped, as if expecting Dean to get what he was thinking.

Dean nodded. "He didn't leave willingly," he said, agreeing with his brother.

Before they could figure out what to do next, a terrible shrieking sound assaulted Dean's ears. Dean saw Sam with the same problem. Sam and Dean covered their ears, unable to talk, let alone think in the midst of the loud screaming.

A few long excruciating moments later, the shrieking stopped. Now in the bunker's war room, Sam and Dean found themselves facing Gabe. Who was alive somehow, and standing before them with a smirk on his face.

"Well, well, well, you boys really are in the middle of it now."

Dean frowned. "What _the hell_ is going on?" He demanded. 

Sam stared at Gabriel like he couldn't believe he was there in front of them. Alive.

"You're in a new reality. Dad put the brakes on that other reality you were in. Something went wrong, wrong enough that an intervention had to happen."

Sam looked confused. "Wait. What do you mean, wrong? I mean, bad things have gone down, but we were doing fine -- or as fine as it can be for me and Dean -- before the reality shift."

Gabe raised a finger. "Let me rephrase that: an apocalyptic event would have happened in that reality. Everything might have looked all sunshine and roses, but trust me boys, everything was headed downhill. And maybe you two averted the apocalypse once, but this time, you wouldn't have been so lucky."

Dean looked at him suspiciously. "And what-- we're supposed to trust you? The Gabriel we knew died years ago. You're telling me God did a kill switch on the reality we were taken from and dropped us in this reality. Where you're alive somehow? And you know about us and the apocalypse because God told you? Or do you know us in whatever bizarro reality this is?"

Gabriel nodded. "Yeah, Dad gave me the cliff notes version on you two. In this reality, let's call it Reality B-- making your "sunshine and roses" reality: Reality A-- there's a hold on the apocalypse. Castiel saved you from Hell, Dean, but then after your touching, heartfelt reunion, you and Sam just continued on hunting. For the last five years, Heaven and Hell have both been waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"But then what about Ruby?" Sam asked. "She manipulated me into breaking the final seal."

"You killed her, Sam, only a few weeks after you got Dean back. Dean managed to convince you she was bad news. With the stop to the apocalypse, Ruby had little purpose for sticking around. She wasn't strong enough to trick you, especially with your brother back in your life."

"So who stopped the ball rolling on the apocalypse here?" Dean asked, though he already suspected the answer.

"Let's just say Dad set up Reality B to get you two to help him out. To make things right. Once you do that, a new reality will be formed. And then we can put all this behind us."

"So this "Reality B" isn't what God wants? What-- this is some kind of "in-between" place before the permanent reality?"

Gabe shrugged. "Yeah, something like that. Don't ask me why Dad did it this way. But there's reason to the madness somewhere..."

"What about Cas? Our Cas? He just disappeared on us?" Dean demanded to know.

"Yeah, sorry boys, he ceased to exist, along with the rest of Reality A. But you were needed here so you were pulled out before that reality completely fell. If you succeed here, you two won't remember any of this. The only memories you'll have is of the new reality to be created. And Castiel will be there, so you haven't lost him."

"But that Cas... the one who ceased to exist... we lost him." Dean said. He shot a glare at Gabe.

"You have to let him go. Bigger things to focus on here. The past is the past. Focus on the present."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks with each other.

"When you talked about waiting for the other shoe to drop..." Sam wondered. "Would that be us being brought to this reality?"

Gabe smiled. "So you are the smart one."

"Yeah, I still don't trust you." Dean said, tone blunt.

"But you don't have much of a choice, Dean. You do what I need you to, or you can sit around in this bunker waiting for demons to "storm the castle" and take you down."

"If God really needs our help, then can't he just resurrect us?" Sam asked.

Gabe raised an eyebrow. "Not if you're just sitting around, refusing to help, and allowing demons to kill you."

"We're not going to let some fucking punkass demons kill us. We're hunters, not sitting ducks," Dean said, nearly growling out his response.

"Then get over the trust issues, and get on board." Gabe said, tone firm.

Sam sighed, seeming to give in and accept that Gabe was trustworthy -- at least trustworthy enough. The memory of their Gabe helping them out with stopping the apocalypse, and then dying by Lucifer's hand at the forefront of his mind -- convincing him to trust the archangel.

"Archangel douchebag," Dean muttered under his breath. 

But he felt the same way as Sammy-- the old memory of their Gabe's help to the cause not forgotten. Better to trust an angel over a demon, right?

~ * ~

Sam and Dean went over what Gabriel had told them. They had to find the human vessel of this reality's Castiel. Castiel had to possess him, and then reality would reform into what God believed it should be.

Now they had to deal with angels and demons wanting opposing realities. And those realities were in conflict with what Sam and Dean had to make happen, which was “Reality C.” Gabe couldn't tell them what was in that reality. They just had to trust "Reality C" was the right one if God was backing it.

"If Cas returned to Heaven after saving you from Hell, then the question is..." Sam trailed off, frowning.

"Is Cas trapped there as a prisoner or not? And does he want to go along with creating "Reality C"?"

"If he's a prisoner, then that would mean he doesn't want the reality the other angels are rallying for. That Cas is backing God's plan." Sam said.

"Damn, I just wish we knew what the hell was in this new reality. Something's gotta be wrong with it if the angels aren't on board with the plan like Gabe said. Even if apparently God is behind making Reality C happen."

"Yeah, I'm with you, Dean. We don't know this version of Cas either. And he doesn't know us that well either. I want to trust this Cas will be on our side, but he has been brainwashed in our reality."

"The less I'm reminded of Naomi, the better," Dean bit out, shooting a look at Sam.

"Yeah. Me too."

Dean then remembered something said a few years ago. By an angel in Cas's old garrison.

"Remember what that angel said? Back when Cas was broken, that angel said, "he was lost" when he touched me to save me from Hell? If he saved me in this reality, then maybe the same thing happened here. That I had the same effect on him... that maybe he's questioning things, having doubts."

"Just from a touch, Dean? I mean, I want to hope that will be enough."

"It has to be. Look, I wish we had the same friendship with him like in our old reality. I wish I had been able to hash things out with him about that time at Lucifer's crypt. But now, that can't happen either."

"I'm sorry, Dean. I know you were worried about me back there in the hospital. I'm to blame for you missing that chance to really talk to Cas."

"No, you weren't," Dean told him firmly. He sighed. "You will always be my first priority. Maybe if I'd known that this reality mess was going to happen, that the Cas we knew would just cease to exist... I might have done things differently. Talked to him when he was possessing you instead of waiting, stalling, until he was done healing you."

"Maybe now, in this reality, we can make things right. Cas didn't trust you with the Angel Tablet, but he did come to heal me when you prayed to him. He was trying to apologize to you, I think, in his own way. So now, we should trust this Cas we never met ... hope that his rescuing you from Hell changed him for the better," Sam said. He looked hopeful.

"I feel it, Sammy... I think that Cas saving me in this reality too was intentional. I'm not about to go into this blindly... we should still be wary, but I want to give him a chance."

"Do you think we should try calling him? Cas?" Sam suggested. He frowned, seeming doubtful that that would achieve anything. 

Dean looked up at the ceiling. He shrugged. "Maybe, shouldn't hurt... hold on, wait... something's not right. Damnit. Can't believe I didn't realize it before. Gabe didn't fuckin' tell us!" 

In frustration, he slammed his fist down on the table in the war room.

Sam gave him a questioning look. "What is it?"

Dean waved his hand, looking annoyed. "My memory. And yours too, I bet. I remember Cas, but when I try to picture him in my mind... I'm drawing a blank. What happened in this reality is overriding our old reality. You try. See if it's the same for you."

Sam frowned. He squinted, and he thought of Cas but all he got was some human-shaped being made of light. No matter how hard he tried -- thinking that _he knew_ how Cas looked, Cas was one of their closest friends, he should see him in his mind's eye as easily as Dean -- _nothing_ worked.

"You're right, Dean," Sam said unhappily. "Looks like finding his human vessel will be harder than we expected. I can't even remember the name of the vessel. And I swear we met him once, didn't we? Not sure where it even was...in the U.S. most likely."

"Hold it... you said "him"... that's a start."

Sam sighed. "Maybe I just see Cas in a male vessel. I still don't have the memory to back it up. But you were acting weird before... you "thought you saw a fly"-- what was that about?"

"A fly? I don't remember Sam! It was probably nothing."

"No, it had to be something. And at the hospital, you almost jumped out of your chair. You must have had some weird dream. I remember saying you look..."

"--Spooked?" Dean finished. He put his hand on his forehead, shaking his head. "Yeah, no clue what 'spooked' me. Another dead end."

Sam felt tired, but still determined. He started up a search on the internet. "Well then, guess we have to treat this like another case. Find this person with what little we have to go on. We're not even sure that this reality's Cas has the same true vessel as in our world."

"No, he has to have the same vessel." Dean said, tone stubborn.

"Maybe it won't matter," Sam decided. "We don't remember the old vessel anyway. We can't be able to tell if the new vessel is the same or not."

"So what are you looking up?" Dean wanted to know. He opened up the other laptop, accessing the internet and thought of what he should search for. 

"Recent demon attacks..." Sam told him, distracted as he focused on the search. "Across the country."

"You figure if the demons want a different reality, then they'd go after the human vessel? Stop the vessel from getting involved in God's reality plan?"

"Yeah."

"And the angels? They're not gung-ho about God's plan either."

Sam shrugged. "Well they got Cas, right? So I bet they're working on him, getting him to cooperate or stopping him from following God's plan."

"So that leaves the demons to deal with the other half of the equation."

Sam nodded. "Unfortunately."

" _Holy tax accountant_..." Dean muttered under his breath.

Sam stared at him. "Where did that come from?"

"I'm not sure... I think it's from a memory I should remember, but can't. Not completely. I do remember being in a barn with Bobby. We had put up all the sigils we could think of to trap Castiel. We didn't know what he was then. But we waited and waited... we were damn sure we did the spell right to summon him, but no dice. We ended up leaving the barn. It was a bust."

Sam peered down at his screen. "Dean, where were you with Bobby? What town was the barn in? Was it Pontiac, Illinois? I remember staying there around that time."

Dean felt like a lightbulb had gone off in his head. "Yeah, yeah, Pontiac. That sounds familiar. What, you think the vessel would live there? Castiel has wings, Sam. He can travel anywhere in a split second. He wasn't limited to choosing a vessel in the same town he was being summoned."

"You have a point. But I did find this..." Sam said. He moved his laptop over so Dean could see the screen.

It was a newspaper article from a month ago. A mother and her 16-year old daughter had been killed in their own home. The father had survived, and he'd told the police that the attackers had "black eyes" and he thought they could be demons. The family lived in Pontiac, Illinois.

But Dean focused on the names given. Particularly the name of the father. Jimmy Novak. It was all too familiar.

The vision of Cas's vessel that had weirded him out... in the hospital then at the bunker before the reality shift. He remembered that now. He remembered the vessel used to be Jimmy Novak. That he should be dead now. Cas had exploded into pieces by Lucifer's hand. Jimmy's soul had to have gone up to Heaven.

Sam seemed to have the same familiar feeling too. "We need to go pay Jimmy Novak a visit."

"Yeah, before those demons get another shot at taking him out."

~ * ~

Jimmy Novak stared. He hated to do this, but it was becoming a common habit the last few weeks. With trembling hands, he clutched the gun loaded with rock salt. He took a breath, exhaling, trying to calm himself long enough to steady the weapon in his grip.

"Just leave me alone, all right? I don't know what those demons did to you. But please, remember who the both of you used to be. We were a family."

"Don't bother. It won't work. It will never work," said the ghost of his dead wife. An unfortunately brainwashed ghost. 

It hadn't been enough that those demons had killed Amelia and Claire, but they had messed with their minds somehow. 

Amelia's ghost came at him. Jimmy, unhappily, pulled the trigger and the rock salt hit her in the chest, which caused her to disappear a moment later. Fortunately his daughter's ghost vanished at the same time. Apparently Claire deciding she didn't want to deal with getting shot at with rock salt.

Jimmy let out a breath, setting the gun back on the counter. He almost wished that the demons had killed him when they'd killed his wife and daughter. Then he wouldn't have to go through this torture of the ghosts of his own family tormenting him. He had begun to wonder if the demons couldn't kill him -- and the best they could do was mentally break him through his family turning against him.

It was a month since his family had passed. He was always tired these days. It was a tiredness so deep that sometimes Jimmy wasn't sure how he was still able to function. He'd become far too dependent on coffee because sleep was the last thing he wanted to do. But all that caffeine had left him a little paranoid and on constant high alert.

He reached out to grab his gun so he could stow it away. Before he could grab the handle though, Jimmy clutched his throat upon having trouble catching his breath. This wasn't a new occurrence either. What was different this time was the longer duration. The previous instances, he was able to breathe again normally after a minute or two.

But now, Jimmy could feel this was worse. Maybe the demons finally figured out a way to kill him after all. 

A familiar nightmare took over his mind's eye. In vain, he fought to breathe, praying to have this end.

"Make it stop," he whispered.

He collapsed to the kitchen floor. He thought of how sorry he was for failing his family, for not protecting them against those three demonic intruders, even if there was still little he could have done at the time. He had been far too outmatched, but Jimmy was still sorry, burdened by regret.

His vision went black and he fell unconscious, his body worn out from the effort of trying to get air into his lungs.

~ * ~

Dean rang the doorbell to the Novak residence. There was no answer after he hit the button three times.

Turning to Sam, he asked, "You think no one's home?" 

Sam peered at the window by the door. "No, I see some lights on. Jimmy's got to be in there. Maybe we should knock?"

Just as Dean put out his hand to bang on the door, the door opened. A weary looking Jimmy stood in front of them. He looked different than Dean remembered last time he saw him. His hair was graying at the sides, which made sense since in this reality, five years had passed from when he first met the man. In this world, he had aged like any man would and if demons hadn't killed his family, he probably would have continued living a nice, quiet domestic life. 

"Yes? What do you want? You realize it's almost midnight."

"Hi, my name is Sam, this is Dean. We apologize if we woke you up." Sam said quickly, wanting to get off on the right foot Dean figured.

Jimmy gave a small half-smile, a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "That's all right. I wasn't asleep."

Dean saw Sam open his mouth, knew he was going to dive into their whole FBI schtick about investigating the murders of Jimmy's wife and daughter.

But Dean, his impatience fueling him, cut in and spoke first. "Look, we need your help. Do you know about Castiel?"

Sam glared at Dean. "Seriously, man. What the hell?" Sam's expression read.

Dean shrugged, not feeling sorry about jumping the gun and not beating around the bush. The world was on the verge of collapse, he thought it wouldn't hurt to speed up the process here.

He felt his strategy was partially a success when he saw Jimmy's face darken at the mention of Castiel. So Jimmy knew about him, but the demons must have fed him some lies about Castiel. If they wanted to stop Jimmy from consenting to angelic possession, then of course those fuckin' demons would turn Jimmy off from granting permission. 

Although Dean had to admit that he’d believed something like this would happen. And he was sure Sam was aware too. Now they had confirmation.

"I don't know who you're talking about," Jimmy said. "I think you two should leave. I don't know what you're playing at, but I'm not interested."

He shut the door in their faces.

Sam and Dean exchanged looks with one another.

"Great, Dean. Now he probably won't open the door for us again. He hates us."

"Yeah, whatever," Dean said, not bothered by Sam's annoyance. "At least we know now--"

"He knows who Castiel is. Or whatever lies the demons told him. Maybe Jimmy doesn't know Castiel is an angel."

"But he was told he's bad news."

Sam nodded. "How do we get in now? Ring the doorbell again and hope he thinks it's someone else at the door?"

"At freakin' midnight?" Dean said incredulously. "This man just had his family killed by demons. He's not an idiot. He's become more paranoid, if anything else. You know how Dad was after Azazel killed Mom."

Sam sighed. "Yeah."

Dean moved to break down the door.

Sam gave him a look. "You're not going to kick in the door. That's a crap idea especially after what Jimmy's been through."

Sam knocked on the door, doing so five times before the door opened again.

Jimmy's eyes narrowed, the face of suspicion as he looked at each of them in turn. "What?" he asked with a huff. "Who are you two really?"

Sam nodded at Dean as if to say, "I got this. Follow my lead."

"My brother and I are hunters. We hunt the supernatural like demons, werewolves, ghosts... we read the story about your family. We're so sorry for your loss. We believe that the suspects were demons like you said in the news article. We want to help you," Sam said in his best sympathetic voice. 

Sam was doing the full puppy eyes treatment, and damn, Dean hoped this would work. He had faith in his little brother's way of handling with grieving loved ones, but there were times the act fell flat.

"Okay," Jimmy relented. He sighed. "The both of you can come in."

Dean was relieved. Looks like this time, Sam's tried and true strategy worked like a charm.

~ * ~

Jimmy let them into his house. Sam didn't miss the look of distrust still on the older man's face. Fortunately, Jimmy had allowed them into his house despite that. So that had to count for something.

He led them into the living room. He nodded at the coffee table. There were two glasses of clear liquid, most likely water. Although Dean muttered under his breath so only Sam could hear about hoping it was vodka.

“I need you two to drink from those glasses. Or just kill me now.”

“Wait, you think we're demons?” Sam asked, realizing there had to be holy water in the two glasses.

“After losing my wife and daughter to demons, then yes, I can't help but accept the chance demons will return to kill me too. For all I know, you both could be stalling and waiting until my guard is down before ending my life.”

“We're not demons. Like my brother said, we're hunters. We kill demons.” Dean told him.

“Then prove it. This is my house, my rules. Please.”

Sam and Dean exchanged looks and shrugged. Jimmy had a point. But another thing that had Sam curious about Jimmy's knowledge about holy water. It looked like losing his family to a demon attack got him to researching the supernatural, apparently.

That reminded Sam of their Dad and how he got into the hunting life and then he became so obsessed with the hunt for Azazel, raising him and Dean came second. Unless Sam counted their Dad insuring they knew how to defend themselves against supernatural creatures on hunts. 

In Jimmy's case, he was all on his own and Sam wished he knew how to convince him to help them. To get possessed by an angel the demons had most likely turned Jimmy against. Only a month after the attack, the man had to still be grieving. He wasn't in the best mindset to accept he had to give up his body to some supernatural entity to save the world.

“You feel like your world has ended,” Sam said out loud.

Sam was worried. How could he and Dean convince Jimmy to help them save the world when he already felt his “world” was gone -- his whole family. And now he had to start over -- that is, if Jimmy even wanted to turn over a new leaf and somehow find happiness again.

Jimmy stared at him. “I don't want to talk about that.”

Dean tugged on Sam's arm, hissing at him that they should just drink from the goddamn glasses. Jimmy's frown made Sam realize that he was close to making them leave. He'd overstepped. Of course Jimmy wouldn't want to get into the painful topic of losing his family with strangers. So instead, Sam followed Dean's lead.

They downed the glasses in seconds. 

“All right. See? We’re not demons. Just human. You good with that?” Dean asked.

“Maybe,” Jimmy said, still seeming hesitant to trust them completely.

Then a ghost appeared in the room. Going off the news article about Jimmy’s family, Sam decided that had to be the apparition of Jimmy’s teenaged daughter, Claire.

“They shouldn’t be here,” said Claire, sounding angry.

“I invited them, just leave them alone, Claire. This is my doing.” Jimmy told her. His voice was weary, like he was feeling defeated and he didn’t have much energy to start an argument.

She turned to look at Sam and Dean. “You won’t win. Don’t bother trying.”

“Yeah, this isn’t our first apocalypse. We’re not going to be stopped.” Dean shot back.

“You need a reminder.” 

Jimmy raised his hand. “No, don’t… just please. I don’t--”

But she wouldn’t listen. Jimmy fell to his knees, clutching his throat. “...can’t -- breathe…” Then his eyes were glazed over and he was somewhere else. At least his mind believed he was in another place, somewhere that Claire’s ghost had taken him to unwillingly.

“Dean!” Sam tossed him an iron poker he’d found.

Sam swiped his own piece of iron at the ghost and Claire’s ghost vanished. Dean looked around, iron poker raised, ready to attack.

“Jimmy’s wife… she could be here too,” Sam figured.

Dean nodded.

“Jimmy?” Sam asked. “You okay?”

Jimmy gasped, breathing heavily. Luckily the ghost being gone caused him to get his breath back. “Yeah, yes… I’m fine.”

“You looked like you were out of it there. Was that some kind of waking nightmare?”

Jimmy nodded. “It… I saw the end. I’ve been having the same vision since the demons killed them.”

Sam gave him a sad look. “What do you see? What’s in the vision?”

“It’s what I said… the end.”

“The end? Like “the end of the world” the end?” Dean said.

“Yes. Now, if you two are hunters, I need your help with…” he nodded over to where Claire had been standing minutes before.

“Your wife and daughter are ghosts… and you want them laid to rest.” Dean surmised, understanding.

“I buried them. I read that they need to be salted and burned so they don’t return as restless spirits. But I couldn’t… they’re still my family. I couldn’t cremate them. So I need you two to do what I can’t. Please.”

“Sure, we can do that,” Sam said, eager to offer his assistance. “I know this isn’t easy for you.”

“I think -- I wish it wasn’t true -- but the demons who killed my wife and daughter brainwashed them somehow so they’re tormenting me as ghosts.”

“They wanted to hurt you by making your family turn against you,” Dean said, stating his deduction like it was a fact. 

“I guess that’s what demons do,” Jimmy said with a sigh.

“Not sure demons are able to do that,” said Sam. “But maybe…” he wanted to say that maybe demons’ abilities were different in this reality. But then Jimmy would question the wording of “this reality.” Sam preferred to break the whole “multiple realities” deal to him gently. Or at least after they’d gained more of Jimmy’s trust by taking care of his ghost problem.

“What did you mean by apocalypse? ‘This isn’t our first apocalypse’ you said,” Jimmy questioned Dean. “When was the first one? I would think I’d have remembered that if it had happened.”

Dean scratched the back of his head, looking like he was trying to come up with a good answer. One that didn’t involve hitting Jimmy with everything they knew.

Sam gave Dean a look, which he was sure Dean would label as his patented bitchface.

“Forget what Dean said. He was just being overdramatic, trying to throw the ghost off.”

Dean agreed. “And it wasn’t really the apocalypse. More like an impending apocalypse we managed to avert it a couple years ago. The average person wouldn’t recognize the signs. So you wouldn’t have noticed unless you knew what was happening.”

Sam gave a long sigh, rubbing his forehead and closing his eyes.

“I’m not an idiot. I can tell you two are keeping something from me. If you can stop the ghosts of my wife and daughter from being controlled by demons, then I’ll let it pass.”

“We don’t think that. We only want to help you, Jimmy.”

Sam could see that Dean looked like he wanted to say something… maybe add that really in the end, they weren’t going to be helping Jimmy. They needed him to provide his consent to get possessed by an angel, one he most likely had been persuaded to hate. To ask Jimmy to give up control of his own body when he already was feeling like he’d lost control of his life with his wife and daughter dead, was a grim task. One that Sam dreaded doing, but he knew that he and Dean needed to work together to get Jimmy on the same page.

The world was at stake according to Gabe, and Sam didn’t want to risk the repercussions if they failed the archangel’s instructions.

Sam nudged Dean in the shoulder, indicating to him that he should keep quiet if he wasn’t going to say anything helpful.

“I can head over to their graves once you tell me where they’re buried,” Dean said, to Sam’s relief that he was keeping to the plan. “Sammy will keep an eye on things here. Ghosts tend to get violent when they realize that they’re being forced into the afterlife.”

“Okay. I have a gun loaded with rock salt bullets. That should help, shouldn’t it?”

Sam and Dean exchanged looks with one another. The whole idea of Jimmy having this hunter’s knowledge was unexpected and strange. “Uh yeah. That would be good. We have some more of those guns and iron too in the trunk.”

Jimmy came with them to take the needed weapons out of the car trunk -- making sure to load up on rock salt bullets and retrieve the iron they had. Understandably, Jimmy wasn’t too much for staying inside the house alone what with his ghost problem. 

Sam was surprised at Jimmy’s interest in the weapons arsenal in their trunk. Since he figured most people would be more freaked by the display than anything else. He could tell Dean was a little unnerved by the interest too. Jimmy did inform them that he was comforted by the fact that they’d come prepared. And he was relieved that the brothers hadn’t been pulling his leg about being hunters.

After that, Dean drove off in the Impala following Jimmy’s directions to the cemetery he needed to be at.

Sam went back inside the house. He prepared himself to deal with some very unhappy ghosts as Dean did the salt and burn on their bodies. But Sam was determined. He wouldn’t let the spirits torment Jimmy as they had been. Probably just seeing them appear, shadows of what had once been his family was enough to cause Jimmy misery. 

~ * ~

Sam watched Jimmy drinking a cup of coffee. He saw his hands shaking a bit. 

“You haven’t been sleeping much, have you? Has to be hard being in the same house where your wife and daughter were murdered.”

“Yes, well, guess I can only take it day by day.”

“I’m sorry I have to ask… but that end of the world vision you talked about. Where you couldn’t breathe. Would you be willing to tell me more? It could help to talk about what you saw. Unless you already have a therapist.”

Jimmy gave him a quick smile that turned into a frown. “No, no therapist. I didn’t want to deal with potentially being committed to a mental hospital. What I saw, what I know now -- it’s not anything I want a therapist to hear.”

“I understand. I feel the same with being a hunter. Can’t imagine telling the truth to a therapist… it would be beyond their comprehension.”

“But you have your brother to talk to, who would understand since you two are both hunters.”

Sam nodded. “Yeah, that is nice. Dean’s great, and I love him, but he isn’t exactly a therapist.”

“Guess you have to make due with what you have.”

“Yeah. I want to help you, Jimmy, like I said before. You may have felt alone with believing in the existence of demons, but now you’re not alone. Dean and I -- we understand. You have us to talk to if you’re willing. You can talk to me. I promise I’ll listen.”

“You really want to know about the vision?”

“Yes.” Sam said right away. 

Sam waited for Jimmy to begin. He watched as Jimmy closed his eyes, and then he took a deep breath, exhaling. Upon opening his eyes, he started to speak. “I see myself falling to the ground after seeing this flash of white light. I’m in shock and I find that I can’t breathe. I struggle to stand up, but eventually I do, and though I try to walk on, I realize I have nowhere to go. No way to figure out where I am,” he said. 

Jimmy paused as if the memories were too much to deal with as he recalled his frequent nightmare. “It’s all just barren, rocky, inhospitable landscape around me. I’m not even sure I’m on Earth anymore. I’m gasping for air, discovering that the oxygen appears to be limited. Which supports my theory that I must be on a different planet. I just can’t imagine Earth looking like this… so desolate and devoid of life… it’s hell, I’m sure of it, it has to be. I feel pain, so much pain. I can’t bear it any longer. The fight to breathe, to take what little oxygen is available… I only manage to stay upright for so long before I fall again. I’m on my back, my eyes closed, and I simply wait…”

“...to die?” Sam finished, voice soft. 

Jimmy nodded, rubbing at his face. He gave Sam a sharp look. “Why did your brother mention Castiel?”

“The white light… you believe that was an angel. That was Castiel.” 

Sam said, feeling sad as he considered the vision Jimmy described. While not quite the same thing, he was reminded of Lucifer’s hallucination torturing him a few years back. His mental state crumbled to the point where he had to be in a mental hospital. The depth of his exhaustion as Lucifer haunted him day and night. 

He could understand the misery Jimmy felt as he fought to breathe and was left losing, giving in to the inevitable because the torture overwhelmed him. Sam had felt the same as he’d fought the battle to sleep, so that he wouldn’t have to deal with his nightmare companion. With that hallucination of Lucifer yelling into his head every time he closed his eyes.

“That this angel called Castiel used me as a vessel. And then he left me to die painfully in an environment inhospitable to human life. Tossing me aside like I was no one, _nothing_. Yes.”

Sam looked directly at him. While he felt terrible for what Jimmy had to go through, he was also determined to get his “demons equal liars” point across. “I’m sorry, man, that you have to deal with that nightmare. But it’s those demons putting lies into your head. That won’t happen for real, okay? It won’t.”

“I know the demons put those images, that scene in my head. I realize I shouldn’t trust what I see. But I’ve seen this vision many times now since those demons attacked my family. While I sleep, the visions are overwhelming. I drink as much coffee as I can to avoid sleep, but that only helps for so long. I can’t dismiss what I saw. I’m afraid of the risk -- what if I do what the demons don’t want? What if I say yes to being possessed and the vision does come to pass? Should I accept that risk? I don’t know…”

“Look, Jimmy… you barely know my brother and me, you have no solid reason to trust us. I hate to say this, but you have to give permission. The fate of the world depends on it.”

Jimmy raised his eyebrow. “Really. Isn’t that something said in a movie? Never thought I’d hear it in real life… so are we dealing with an apocalypse?”

Sam nodded. “Yes. My brother and I are from a different reality. And we knew an angel named Castiel. He was a close friend of ours. He's gone now -- ceased to exist along with the rest of our reality. ”

He swallowed, doing his best not to dwell on his new reality now -- the Cas he'd known who had saved his life after the Trials was no more. He was the only angel Sam was and would ever be okay with possessing him. He hated that he would forget about him when the right reality became permanent.

It was small comfort that Cas would still be in their lives in Reality "C" even if it was a different version of him. True, Sam wouldn't realize that anything had changed since him and Dean would be "rebooted" too. But it didn't make it any less painful thinking about it now.

Jimmy spoke then, allowing Sam to focus on him over his own unhappy thoughts. “You are right, you know. I don’t have a good reason to trust either of you. I have no interest in giving consent to an angel to possess me. Especially one who abandons me and leaves me to a painful death. Even if it’s just a nightmare, it still hurts and I can’t forget about what I see there, what I feel.”

Sam nodded, deciding to let it go. This wasn’t going to be a simple, “please do what we say.” He had to give Jimmy better reasons for giving consent, for accepting that he needed to relinquish control of his body for the sake of the world’s survival.

“All right, that’s okay. I’m sorry I brought this up.”

Jimmy gave a little smile, surprising Sam. “But I appreciate the help that you and Dean are offering. Not having the ghosts of my wife and daughter tormenting me would be a relief. I only hope they’ll be at peace after Dean is done, free from the control of those demons.”

“They will be, Jimmy. I promise,” Sam told him, trying his best to reassure him.

“ _No, no, no_ …” Jimmy said, shaking his head. He pointed behind Sam.

Sam grabbed his gun from the counter while Jimmy tightly gripped an iron poker. 

The ghost of Jimmy’s daughter had appeared.

Sam pulled the trigger on his gun but the ghost only vanished for a few seconds. She returned easily which left Sam to wonder if the demons had been involved with making her stronger. Any regular run-of-the-mill ghost wouldn't have come back so fast.

"You don't belong here," she said to Sam. 

She raised her hand and Sam was forced back against the wall. "You're only making things worse."

"Claire, stop it please." Jimmy pleaded. His grip slackened on the iron poker.

"You shouldn't listen to anything he or his brother says. They're liars." Claire told him.

"You're wrong about that. I'm sorry, but you're not well, sweetheart. You're not the daughter I raised. I can't trust you. I'm sorry. Those demons manipulated you."

“There’s a way out for you. A way to be free,” Claire’s ghost said. 

Jimmy stared at her. “What? I don’t understand.”

“She’s following the demon’s orders, Jimmy. Don’t listen to her,” Sam said, still pinned against the wall. He used all his strength to try to move, but it took effort to even move his fingers. It was insane. Those demons were determined to get their way.

Then to make matters worse, the ghost of Jimmy’s wife appeared. “You don’t have to give up everything. After all that you’ve already lost, I know you don’t want to lose anymore. You have free will, Jimmy. You don’t have to let some angel take over your body. We’re giving you the choice to keep control, to stay behind the driver’s seat. Don’t you want that? Otherwise you’re only a pawn. That’s how Sam and Dean see you. They just don’t want to say it.”

“Jimmy, she’s trying to trick you. I’m telling the truth -- the world will end if you don’t agree to work with us, to allow Castiel access. It’s the only way he can walk the Earth, the only way he can help save the world. The demons don’t realize that their plan will destroy everything. There will be no world that’s favored by demons -- there will literally be _nothing_. No one will win.”

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Sam is lying. I told you -- both of them are.”

Jimmy shook his head, pressed his fingers to his forehead. “I know the demons have done something to you, Amelia. I’m not sure if I can trust you knowing that… but… I feel like my life has been spiraling out of control this past month. I can’t… to lose complete control over my own body… I’m not ready for that, Sam,” he finished, looking toward Sam sadly.

Sam felt desperate. And seriously, what was taking Dean so long with the salt and burn? Or did the demons make sure that wouldn’t be easy either? Damnit.

“Look, Jimmy. Dean and I know what it’s like to be pawns. Angels and demons were both yanking our chains, getting us to play our parts. And it sucked hard. I hated it and hate remembering those days. But it was the apocalypse, so I guess it was supposed to suck. Cas-- the Castiel we knew -- he was on our side at great cost to himself. We were Team Free Will. I have to believe, Jimmy, that this reality’s Cas is on our side too. I just can’t see him being against us. I can’t see him being the angel in your nightmare.”

“That’s only what he believes. Sam Winchester has no solid proof,” Claire chimed in.

Sam shot her a glare. For a moment, he almost forgot that she was only a teenaged girl who was unfortunately brainwashed by demons.

Jimmy took a deep breath. "What do I need to do?" He asked the ghost of his dead wife.

"This is a bad idea," Sam warned him. 

He was frustrated that he couldn't break free from the wall.

"You need to sign this contract with your blood," said Amelia.

She showed him the contract.

Jimmy looked over at Sam, and he could see in Jimmy’s eyes that he was having doubts about this. But Sam figured the desire to avoid possession was winning out. At least Jimmy still had the iron poker in hand. Sam thought he would have dropped the piece of iron by now, so that gave Sam some bit of hope.

Sam tried to plead with him. “Jimmy… if you do this, it’s going to be the end for everyone. I’m sorry you’re in this position, but just think, please really think this through.”

Biting his lip, Jimmy sighed. He shook his head. Amelia handed him a knife, which Jimmy took.

He held the knife to his left forearm, but the knife couldn’t penetrate his skin. 

Sam heard him mutter, irritated, “ _Seriously?_ ” 

“There are other ways…” Amelia said, putting out her hand as if wanting Jimmy to give her the knife. As if her doing the cut would make a difference.

Jimmy dropped the knife and kicked it away from him. “No, that’s not necessary. You need to go, the both of you.”

He swung the iron poker at Amelia, who vanished, and Claire did the same a moment later as she didn’t seem willing to wait to be attacked.

Sam found himself released from the wall with the ghosts gone. He was surprised the ghosts weren’t returning -- it all seemed too easy. He was suspicious. Something wasn’t right.

Then Jimmy fell to the ground, dropping the iron poker. He clutched his throat.

Sam rushed to him, collapsing down beside him.

“I can’t…” Jimmy breathed out.

He closed his eyes, squeezing them shut. He laid down on his back.

“Listen to me. It’s all in your head, okay? You have to get out of your head. Do you hear me?”

“Just let me…”

“Jimmy! You’re in your house, you’re not alone, you’re not dying. Don’t let the nightmare win. It’s all an illusion, a trick,” Sam did his best to get through to him. 

Sam grabbed his shoulder, shaking it. "Don't let the illusion win. You'll be allowing those demons to have control over you. You stop the nightmare, you show them that you're stronger than they think you are. They may have destroyed your life as you knew it, but you can survive, Jimmy. You can continue living. Would your wife and daughter want you to give up? Would they?"

Slowly, Jimmy opened his eyes. He breathed in and out, and while Sam could still feel the other man's heart racing, he was relieved he was breathing. That Jimmy had got himself out of that nightmare.

"Breathe in and out. It's going to be okay, man. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere." Sam reassured him.

Jimmy nodded. He gripped Sam's arm firmly as if he needed something to anchor him to the real world. Something solid to confirm the nightmare was not real. 

"You okay?" Sam asked Jimmy.

"I wish I was as strong as you think I am."

"You pulled yourself out of that nightmare. That's really good. Don't sell yourself short. And believe me, I had some bad nightmares a few years back. I felt weak then and wished I were strong enough to not let the illusion control me. It didn't work unfortunately." Sam confided in him. 

He hoped telling Jimmy this would help him see that he wasn't alone.

Jimmy looked at him curiously.

"What happened?" Jimmy wanted to know.

"I landed in a mental institution."

"I'm sorry. How did you get out? Or are you on medications now?"

"No, no psych meds really helped me. It was Cas actually -- the one I knew -- who saved me. I was able to go home, be with my brother again."

"He sounds like a good person," Jimmy commented lightly.

Sam thought it wise not to mention it had been Cas who had started the mess that had led to Sam in a mental hospital. But while Cas had broken his wall, he did make up for it by sacrificing his own mind and sanity so Sam could be healed. Cas had freed him from the worst of his Hell trauma and he was beyond grateful that Cas had been willing to help him in that way.

Since he didn't want to lie to Jimmy though, he did tell the older man, "Look, I want to be honest with you. Cas wasn't exactly angelic all the time. He did some bad things. But he did his best to make things right. I guess that made him almost human in a way. We make mistakes, we aren't perfect. We're flawed, we have regrets. But at the end of the day, the Cas I knew became a valued friend. That's why I hope the Castiel here--"

Jimmy cut in, "--would never leave me to die."

Sam nodded. He helped Jimmy up, grabbing his hand. They both stood up with Jimmy leaning against the nearest wall in the living room as if he was having trouble keeping his balance.

"You okay?" Sam asked.

"Yes -- it's just after suffocating there-- need to get my bearings."

Sam got him to sit down on the couch in the living room.

"I'll get you some water. And I should call Dean. See what the hold up is." He told Jimmy.

Jimmy shook his head. "Call your brother first. Don't worry about me."

Sam frowned. "Okay uh.. Be right back."

Sam left Jimmy staring off into the distance like he was somewhere else completely. At least he wasn't in his nightmare vision since he was still breathing. He guessed Jimmy needed some alone time to process all that Sam had told him.

Sam headed into the kitchen for the call.

"Dean? What's up? How hard is it to salt and burn corpses?" Sam asked, a little annoyed as he spoke.

"Dann demons made it harder, Sammy. They really want Jimmy to break. Or something. Can't wait to gut some of them with a demon blade."

"I had a feeling it wouldn't be easy. But you gotta figure out a way, Dean. Jimmy's wife and daughter caused some trouble. Jimmy almost signed a sealing contract not to consent to angelic possession. Luckily that fell through."

There was a long pause.

"Dean? You still there?"

"Yeah. Gabe is here now. Said he can help with the dead bodies. So just make sure those ghosts stay away from Jimmy."

"Salt circles don't seem to work. Otherwise I'd just put him inside one."

"Fuck these demons in this reality. Where the hell did they get the mojo to make ghosts stronger?"

Sam sighed. "I'll just keep the guns loaded with rock salt. And keep the iron poker on hand. Those may not work great either but if used often, hopefully it'll annoy them enough to leave."

"Good plan. I'll get this done here. Gabe's archangel mojo should do the trick."

"You could have called me, Dean. You're lucky I chose to make a visit," Sam heard Gabe say.

The archangel must be close by the phone, not wanting to be left out of the conversation it seemed.

Dean was quiet.

"Don't tell me you gave him the middle finger," Sam guessed.

"See ya soon, Sam."

"Hey Dean-- he is an archangel and one of the few allies we have in this reality. Just please be civil with him. That's all."

"Civil-- got it. No problem."

Dean hung up.

Sam groaned. Well, he tried.

Sam went back into the living room to find Jimmy sound asleep. He was surprised that Jimmy seemed so untroubled in his slumber. After all, he had been actively avoiding it due to the nightmare. But this was a good thing. Jimmy needed to sleep, to better face what was coming.

The ghost of Jimmy’s wife then appeared with a knife in hand.

Sam pointed his gun at her. “You’re not getting near him.”

She didn’t look bothered at all being targeted in such a way. “Your gun won’t hurt me. Rock salt won’t affect me like you want it to.”

“I don’t care,” Sam shot back at her. He still kept the gun on her. 

She shrugged. “I only need some of his blood.” She explained. “Luckily, for the contract, only his blood is required. He doesn’t even need to be awake to agree to the terms. It’s a good deal.”

“It didn’t work the first time. He couldn’t draw blood himself. What makes you think that your attempt will make a difference? Anyway, Jimmy doesn’t want this. He deserves to be aware of what he was agreeing to.”

“You barely know him. Don’t tell me you know what he wants. That should be left to his family.”

“Well, that’s a little hard considering his wife and daughter are both under control by demons,” said Sam. Don’t think that because you’re the ghost of his wife you have his best interests at heart. Not when demons are feeding you lies you’ve accepted.”

Amelia frowned. She moved to attack him, waving the knife in front of her. She threw the knife at his chest, but Sam was faster, ducking. He’d almost dropped his gun, but he picked it back up and shot her with rock salt.

She vanished, but then returned a moment later. Undeterred, Sam shot at her again. She was gone, again, and still came back just as fast.

Claire appeared too, knife in hand as well. Sam guessed it was for that contract. He couldn’t believe the demons’ best play now is to have Jimmy’s blood on some contract to insure he didn’t consent. It was almost disappointing… that was the best they could come up with?

Sam alternated shooting at both ghosts. When one disappeared, Sam shot at the other one when they attempted to get to Jimmy without Sam noticing. It was a futile effort on the ghosts’ parts. Sam had been raised as a hunter, and this was practically second nature to him. The ghosts were fighting a losing battle. 

After about ten times of this back and forth, Sam was relieved when both Amelia and Claire’s ghosts vanished for good, their souls headed upstairs, to Heaven.

Sam put the safety on for the gun and set it on the floor. He sat down on the opposite couch, admitting that he had been getting fatigued toward the end there. He’d missed Dean having his back. It wasn’t easy to keep an eye on two very determined, strong ghosts on his own. Especially when the fate of the world was hanging over him. If they’d managed to get Jimmy’s blood, and the contract was made good… that would have been the end of everything. Sam suspected that maybe a higher power, God most likely, had a hand in causing Jimmy unable to cut himself to get blood for the contract.

“Thank God,” Sam breathed out.

He wished that Dean and Gabe had been a little quicker with dealing with the corpses. But at least they did succeed in the end even if Sam was left almost done in by the effort of protecting Jimmy. 

While Jimmy being awake to help Sam out would have been nice, Sam was okay with not having the assist. Jimmy had gone through a terrible tragedy. His priority was recovering from that and getting some good rest was the right thing for him. Especially since what they needed from him wasn’t exactly helpful in the “recovering” part. 

And if God had been the one to get Jimmy to have a peaceful sleep, then Sam was all for that. It was good to know that it wasn’t just him and Dean trying to set things right. That God was invested in making sure things went according to plan.

Jimmy was still asleep when Dean returned from the cemetery.

“Everything good here?”

Sam nodded, barely holding back a yawn, “Yeah. Ghosts are gone. Jimmy is finally getting some sleep. We should leave him to it. Get some rest ourselves and strategize in the morning. We could use it.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“How was it with Gabe?”

“Loads of fun,” Dean said drily. “I did pray to this reality’s Castiel. But Gabe told me not to bother. That he’ll only communicate with his true vessel. Guess I’m not worth his time.”

“Dean, it’s probably just cause it’s not necessary that he talk to you. But Castiel _has_ to speak to Jimmy, to somehow get him to agree to possession. Don’t take it personally.”

“Yeah, well, whatever. Can’t wait to get all this over with and we can be memory-wiped and dropped again in another reality.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “We should get some shut-eye.”

Dean agreed. “The question is where? Can’t ask Jimmy since he’s asleep.”

Sam shrugged. “Just take one of the bedrooms. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

Dean felt weird about sleeping in a bedroom considering the recent ghost situation. Even if they were at peace. He thought that Jimmy should be allowed to agree to them sleeping in those rooms. Fortunately Dean found a couch with a pull out bed down in the basement.

It was past noon when they woke up the next day. 

“Hey Jimmy. How are you feeling?” Sam asked when he saw Jimmy waking up. 

Slowly, Jimmy sat up. He stretched his arms, and then he rubbed at his face. Blinking, he stared at Sam for a long moment before answering. 

“What happened? Is everything okay? Amelia and Claire?”

“It’s all good. Don’t worry, Jimmy. Your wife and daughter are at peace now. They’re no longer ghosts brainwashed by demons.”

Jimmy let out a sigh of relief. “That’s great. I’m grateful. Thank you.”

“No problem,” Sam said. 

He decided it was best not to tell him about the ghost problem late last night. The situation was handled. That was the most important thing. 

Sam was about to ask him again about he was, but Dean had entered the living room.

“Hey you two. How are you, Jimmy? Looks like you slept well.” 

Jimmy nodded. “I did. I feel better than I have in weeks...since…” He stopped. He smiled weakly, the smile not reaching his eyes.

“I’m glad to hear that, Jimmy,” Sam said.

“Yeah,” Dean said. “Also, I think we should take this show on the road. Find a motel or something. This place is being targeted by demons.”

Sam could see what Dean was talking about. From the window, he noticed that several people were eyeing the house. Some from the sidewalk, others from the opposite side of the street.

“I agree. I can’t be here anymore considering… getting out of here would be a good idea.” Jimmy said.

Dean clapped his hands. “All right! Let’s do this.”

~ * ~

Sam was concerned that it would be hard to leave with demons watching them. He was sure the demons would attack them as they drove away. But they just stood there, staring at them, which in a way was far more unnerving. What were they waiting for? Or was this their plan to freak them out with the anticipation of an attack?

Or, Sam thought hopefully, the demons couldn’t attack them. Not yet, anyway. All they could do was wait. 

They found a motel about five miles away. Sam found the motel familiar. He was almost sure it was the same motel they stayed in when they were with Jimmy after the “Angel Battle Royale.” Back in their reality.

Sam decided to get supplies while Dean and Jimmy stayed behind in the motel. He was anxious to get out especially after the ghost fight he had last night. He could use some fresh air and change of scenery.

When he returned to the motel, he found Dean alone.

“Where’s Jimmy?”

Dean frowned, looking frustrated. “The TV and lights started going crazy and Jimmy looked like he was having a bad headache. Then he fell to the floor and started seizing. I had to make sure he didn’t hit anything hard. When the seizure ended, Jimmy seemed okay… but he wanted to leave. He even -- can’t believe this -- pulled a gun on me so I wouldn’t stop him.”

“Castiel made contact with him,” Sam stated.

“Yeah. I’m going to find him. And if you say he needs some time alone…”

“No, you’re right, Dean. He could be in danger with demons watching us. You should look for him. I’m guessing the cemetery?”

“Yahtzee. I’ll be back.”

~ * ~

As Dean had predicted, he did find Jimmy at the cemetery where his wife and daughter had been buried. Though their bodies were salted and burned with a little help from Gabe, the headstones were still there.

Quietly, Dean came up behind Jimmy. The older man was sitting on a bench that was close to the headstones of Amelia and Claire.

Not sure what to say, Dean looked around him to check for any demons watching them, waiting to make their move. In the afternoon light, it was much easier to see than last night when he’d had to do the salt and burn. 

He noticed a stone angel statue that had fallen over, one wing broken in half as the separated part of the wing lay alone a foot away from the wing it’d once been a part of.

“You know what happened this one time?” Dean spoke up. 

Jimmy looked up at him as Dean came into his line of view. He looked unsurprised that Dean was there. Almost as if he expected either him or Sam to come looking for him. Maybe that’s why he made it easy for them by heading to the cemetery. He had to have known that would be one of the first places they would look.

Dean nodded down at the empty spot on the bench. Jimmy shrugged, scooting over a bit to give Dean some space.

“What?” He asked Dean. He looked mildly curious.

Dean was surprised he still remembered this particular memory -- no matter how insignificant it was in the grand scheme of things. With their memories being messed with during their time in this reality, he hated to think back to the past too much. Especially if he realized some things he couldn’t recall as well as memories from this reality took over. 

Losing memories of Cas were some of the hardest, and he couldn’t let himself dwell on what was to come. That the Cas he had come to see as a close friend would cease to exist for him. Replaced with a different version. Sure, maybe not knowing anything had changed should help when the right reality became permanent. But, man, did it suck that this irreversible memory loss was hanging over his head right now. That he may only be hours away from everything changing for him and Sam. 

Now that this reality’s Castiel had communicated with Jimmy, it really did hit home that the countdown was beginning.

Dean gave him a half-smile. “There was this small angel statue, a stone one, like that statue just there,” he said, pointing to the fallen angel statue that had seen better days. “It was on a table, and I just knocked it off until it fell off the table. Awkward part is that Cas -- the Cas I knew-- he saw the gesture. Kind of hilarious now, I guess, thinking back on it now. Sam and I -- we’d only known Cas then for about a year. And he was still kind of -- anyway, I thought I’d share that. Not sure why. Not really meaningful or anything. I leave that stuff to Sam. But there it is… knocked over an angel statue in front of an angel.”

Jimmy just stared at him in disbelief. Then he started to smile. He looked like he wanted to laugh, but he held himself back.

“Then how did Cas react? Did he say anything?”

Dean shook his head. “No, he just saw what I was doing and didn’t comment on it. Those were the days that the apocalypse was approaching for us… and I’m sure Cas had a lot on his mind. The angel statue was not worth addressing, I guess. Would have made for a better story I bet if he had said something.”

“Yes, I agree,” Jimmy said. “I have to confess I knocked over that big angel statue. A week or so ago. I was angry with losing my family, and with the nightmares, of the angel who haunted them. I guess the workers haven’t gotten around to fixing it.”

“I’m sorry again about those nightmares,” Dean told him. “That really sucks… but like Sam said, I can’t see any version of Cas being like that, treating his vessel or any human like he did you in the nightmare.”

Sam and Jimmy had gotten him up to speed about the nightmares on the way to the motel. It had been more Sam than Jimmy really, as Jimmy didn’t like to talk about what he experienced in the nightmare. After Jimmy had given Sam permission to tell Dean, Jimmy was mostly quiet during the drive.

Jimmy gave a long sigh. “I hope you and Sam are right. Now that Castiel has communicated with me, it makes this whole thing real. Too real. I know I need to consent to possession for the sake of the world’s survival…but it still… I hate not having a choice.”

“Yeah, I get it. I wish I could tell you there’s a Plan B here, but I don’t think there is.”

"Thanks for hoping there was a Plan B. Makes me feel less alone."

"No problem."

Then as Dean feared would happen, the demons ambushed them. There were about five of them. He stood up quickly, pulling out his gun that was loaded with devil's trap bullets.

One demon shot at Jimmy. He fell off the bench on to the grassy ground.

"Damnit," Dean said, annoyed.

He checked Jimmy's pulse and he was relieved that he was still alive. They must have just shot a tranq at him.

"You shouldn't get involved. You're not even a part of this reality. Oh yeah. We know who you really are."

Dean glared at the demon who'd spoken. "Fuck off. I'm not going to be ordered around by a bunch of demons."

He pulled the trigger on his gun and managed to take down two demons.

Unfortunately five more demons appeared.

Dean swore.

Then white light grew around them, which almost blinded Dean with its brightness. He was shocked it was coming from Jimmy.

The older man was standing now, facing down the demons who stood, shocked and speechless before him. Dean was unnerved that Jimmy’s eyes were glowing white. Something had to be possessing him, something that Jimmy’s body wasn’t able to contain, so that’s why he almost seemed to be drowning in white light.

“You’ll kill the human,” one demon spoke up.

Dean wanted to laugh. Really? When did demons care about the well-being of humans? Yeah, right.

Jimmy stared at the demon who’d spoken, then he looked over each of the other demons, appearing unbothered by the presence of all those demons.

“My children caused some trouble, but they fail to see what I am capable of doing,” he said, or whoever it was. 

Dean was surprised whoever it was used Jimmy’s voice. Didn’t Cas use a deeper voice different from Jimmy? He vaguely recalled that voice change back in his reality.

Some demons attempted to escape, but they looked like they were unable to. They were a captive audience. Dean saw Jimmy, under the control of some unknown entity, snap his fingers. All the remaining demons fell to the ground.

Dean wasn’t sure if the demons were dead or not, but he felt confident that they weren’t an active threat anymore.

Not!Jimmy turned to look at Dean.

“Uh, children? Who are the children “causing some trouble”?”

“Michael and Raphael,” Not!Jimmy answered him. His eyes were still full-on white glow, which made him look alien despite being inside a human body.

Dean’s eyes widened. “Hold up. You mean those douchebag archangels?”

Not!Jimmy nodded, and then the intense white light left him in a rush. That left Jimmy collapsing to the ground as if the strings had been cut from him.

Dean went to him, kneeling down beside him. “Hey, Jimmy? You okay?” He asked him. 

He couldn’t miss the bleeding from Jimmy’s nose. Plus, Jimmy had his hand on his head, appearing like he was sporting a nasty headache.

“My head is killing me,” he told Dean.

“What the hell happened? Who was that? Whose children are archangels?”

“Who else do you think it could be?”

Dean didn’t want to say it because it was too crazy to even consider much less say out loud.

“Were you asked to be possessed?”

“Yeah.”

“And you said yes despite your reservations about Castiel possessing you.”

Jimmy closed his eyes, still pressing his hand to his hand. “I think I need a really strong pain killer.”

“Jimmy?”

“It was God, all right? I just -- I couldn’t say no to Him.”

Dean gave a sigh. “Right. Hey, Gabe! Gabriel. We could use your help down here!” He called out.

While it pained him to ask for Gabe’s help, Dean figured for Jimmy’s sake he should. Why not taking advantage of the healing power angels have? 

~ * ~

When they returned to the motel, Dean declared that they should go to the nearest bar that night. Because that’s the best thing to do when one is confronted with the end of the world.

“So God possessed you?” Sam said, shocked. He put his hand around his glass of beer. 

Jimmy nodded, looking a little despondent. 

Dean nudged Jimmy. “Hey, no need to look so down. We’re here to drink beer, lots of beer, and not think about what’s to come. And seriously, man, something as crazy as God, freakin’ God, possessing you… that’s a once-in-a lifetime thing I bet.”

“Crazy, yeah. That’s one way to describe it,” Jimmy agreed. He sighed. He drank some of his beer. “I’m not big on beer or any alcohol. I have a bad habit of falling asleep or just being really tired after one too many.”

Dean looked at him in sympathy. “Ouch. That bites. Even in college?”

“Yeah. I ended up being the designated driver most of the time.”

“That had to have sucked.”

Jimmy made a face. “Understatement.”

“Well at least you had less drinking stories you wish had never happened,” Sam pointed out.

“Sammy, if you drink too much, then you’re not supposed to remember what happened. It’s all about making sure the others who saw you don’t blackmail you with it.”

Sam rolled his eyes.

“I wasn’t left unscathed," Jimmy let them know. "Had friends who were nice enough to remind me of the weird places where I fell asleep while drunk.”

“Like?” Dean wanted to know.

“In a tree. Not sure how I managed to climb it in my state of mind, but somehow I did.”

“That, now that, is pretty damn awesome,” Dean said, wagging his finger at him.

Jimmy gave him a small smile. He put the glass to his lips, but didn’t appear to drink from the glass.

“Hey… what did Gabe say anyway about why God had to possess a human?” Sam brought up after a few moments of silence with only the sounds of other patrons chatting and glasses clinking. “This is God -- I don’t see him being limited to taking a human vessel.”

Dean shrugged. “Those archangels, Michael and Raphael, found a way to stop God from appearing on Earth. The only choice he had was to possess a human. Michael and Raphael didn’t believe he would ever do that since he’d be risking the human’s life.”

“No human can have that amount of power, at least not for long,” Jimmy added. “Gabriel said I was lucky I only got a nosebleed and headache from the experience.”

Dean nodded. He took a big gulp of his beer. 

“So the archangels underestimated their “Father”,” Sam concluded.

“Yeah, hole in one,” Dean said. “All right, so we gotta do a toast. To the world ending, but hopefully it’ll result in a better world. Hell, it better.”

The three of them raised their glasses, clinking them against one another. 

“To the end of the world,” all three of them said in unison. 

~ * ~

To Be Continued...


	2. Chapter 2

Sam found it hard to sleep that night. He woke up in the early hours of morning. Checking the clock, he saw that it was almost 5 A.M. He became concerned when he didn’t see Jimmy in his bed. Seeing Dean fast asleep, Sam elected not to disturb him. Rubbing his face and doing a poor job at stifling a yawn, Sam ripped off the covers and put on some jeans and his shoes. Since there was a slight chill outside, he grabbed his coat to put over his T-shirt. He shook his head that his brother still slept on despite his not so quiet yawn. Sam wasn’t too surprised.

He was relieved that Jimmy was sitting on a bench just outside of the motel, that he hadn’t gone far. Sam had been doubtful especially with what Jimmy was going through. Although maybe the night at the bar helped to relax him. 

“Hey,” Sam said, his voice soft. He didn’t want to startle Jimmy.

Jimmy looked up. “Hi Sam. Just needed some air… I couldn’t sleep.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Sam said in sympathy. 

He’d definitely had his share of sleepless nights feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. He gestured to the empty spot on the bench.

Jimmy shrugged, nodding. Sam sat down. 

“What’s on your mind? I mean, only if you want to tell me.”

“The usual… it’s all so… it’s a lot to process. I know I only need to consent -- it seems so simple, but it’s a burden all the same.”

Sam sighed. “But you’ll be saving the world, helping to make things right.”

“At what cost? You said your reality ceased to exist.”

Sam frowned, not liking having to talk about this, but he realized that Jimmy had to know the truth.

“All of us-- you, me, Dean and the rest of this reality will cease to exist. And a new reality, the reality God sees as the “right one” becomes permanent. So Dean and I are in the same boat as you with ceasing to exist. The only reason we were transported to this reality with our memories intact is because God needed our help. He wanted us to help you, to be there for you when you did what you needed to do.”

“Cease to exist? Would that be better or worse than dying?” Jimmy wondered. 

“That depends,” Sam said, thinking carefully about the loaded question. “Maybe better in a way since it’s painless -- at least I hope so-- but all your memories are erased. In the new reality, none of us will remember what we’re doing now.”

“Where would I fit in this new reality?” Jimmy asked.

“In my reality, I met a different version of you. It wasn’t for very long, but--”

Jimmy held up his hand. “Please. I don’t want to know what another version of me was like. It won’t change what I have to do. And it may make things harder for me too.”

“All right, sure. No problem. I’m surprised. You’re taking this news of your reality ceasing to exist pretty calmly.”

“Am I?” Jimmy asked weakly. He looked up at the sky. “There’s not much to be done about it. If God is behind the plan, if he needs me to be a vessel, then I favor his plan than one a bunch of demons are pushing on me. Demons killed my family after all. If I cave to what the demons want, then I’ll be betraying my family.”

“That’s a good way to look at it. We’ll be with you, remember, Dean and me. When you say yes, and Castiel comes, we’ll be there. We’ll do the best we can to make sure you’re okay.”

“Not easy, I bet, up against an angel.”

“We’ll try though. I still have faith this reality’s Castiel won’t be like the one in your nightmare.”

Jimmy gave him a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I have nothing left to lose, Sam.”

“What do you mean?”

“Being possessed by God, even for a few minutes, it has lasting consequences. No human should have that kind of power. God warned me of the high cost of being possessed by Him. I still said yes because I knew we needed His help up against those demons.”

“But Dean told me… Gabriel healed you. You had a headache and a nosebleed.”

“Yes, but he couldn’t heal everything. Even if he tried. I don’t feel right, Sam. I think -- I’m sure I’m dying. And doing this, helping to save the world, it sounds like the best thing to do under the circumstances.”

“I’m sorry, Jimmy. That sucks. I wish there was something I could say.”

Jimmy patted Sam’s hand. “It’s fine. You and your brother helped to make me feel less alone when my friends thought I was crazy for believing demons hurt my wife and my daughter.”

Sam was silent. He wasn't sure what else he could say. Whether it would even make a difference.

"I'm glad we could help," he told Jimmy, giving him a sad smile.

The door opened and Sam looked up to see a half-awake Dean wander toward them.

"What're you two doin' here?" Dean mumbled, staring at them through half-liddes eyes.

"You should go back to sleep, Dean. Or get some coffee."

"Why don't you make me coffee, Sammy?"

Sam made a face at him that he was sure Dean would label as his bitchface.

"Please?" Dean added.

Sam was surprised he was awake enough for politeness.

"Fine. But there's no coffee shop open this early," Sam pointed out.

"I borrowed some instant coffee from Jimmy's. It's in the backseat of the car." Dean said, unbothered. Or probably too sleepy to care.

"Jimmy, you know about this?"

Jimmy shrugged. "Saw a container in the backseat of the car when I sat there on our drive here. I was never asked about borrowing it. But I don't mind. You two have helped me. Coffee is the least I could do."

Sam nodded. He stood up. "Okay, well. I'll get on it. I'll be back."

Dean stared after Sam for a long moment or two. Then he sat down without preamble sat down in the spot Sam had left. 

"So what's up?" Dean asked Jimmy.

"I think I'm dying," he told Dean.

"Dying, ceasing to exist… ain't life a bitch. Hope this brave new world the big guy is backing is worth it."

"Yeah. Me too."

"Hey, was wondering-- did Castiel tell you what he thinks of me?"

"He told me he was a part of a garrison who saved you from Hell. From what he's seen of you now, Castiel thinks you're a little strange. Good but strange."

"Huh. And you think this Castiel is trustworthy?"

"I guess. He seems okay. I want to trust him."

"Well, that's something. Why does he think I'm strange?" Dean wanted to know.

"I imagine all angels think humans are strange, right?" Jimmy said.

Dean nodded. Then he rubbed at his face, trying to stay awake. "Yeah, and the same in reverse." 

When he clapped a hand on Jimmy's shoulder, the older man almost jumped at the unexpected contact.

Jimmy looked at Dean. "What?"

"I'm glad to know you, man. Just wanted you to know that."

"Thank you. I feel the same." He told Dean, sounding sincere.

Dean grasped his shoulder once in acknowledgment, then let go.

Sam returned, beckoning them all back inside for coffee. They ended up venturing out again to see the sunrise about an hour later.

~ * ~

Later on that day, Jimmy declared that he wanted to return home. He told Sam and Dean that he wanted to have the right outfit when he would be possessed.

He looked questioningly at the pair of them when Dean was about to say something, but Sam stamped on his brother’s foot. He gave Dean a tight-lipped look.

“What is it? Is something wrong?” Jimmy asked. 

Sam quickly shook his head. “No! That’s a good idea. This is a big thing after all, and you should wear whatever makes you feel most comfortable.”

Dean shrugged, shooting a finger in Sam’s direction. “Yeah, what he said.”

“The Castiel in your reality… he didn’t choose his outfit, did he?”

“He had zero fashion sense,” Dean spoke up. He grinned. 

“Just shut up, Dean. Let’s go,” Sam urged him. 

Sam grabbed Dean’s arm and pulled him toward his duffle bag, encouraging him to pack. 

“I don’t know whether to see that as an insult or…” Jimmy said, trailing off. 

Sam tried to give him a reassuring smile. He wished that Jimmy hadn’t put two and two together. But it was probably easy to figure out that their Cas just stuck with what his vessel chose to wear. That being Jimmy Novak, the one from their reality. 

After all, why would angels care about what they wore? That was a human thing. And angels could just use their Grace to clean their clothes if need be. No real need to change their outfits. “Forget what Dean said. It’s not important.”

“Okay. What did he wear though? Your Castiel?” Jimmy wanted to know.

“The memory is kind of unclear,” Sam admitted. “Since we’ve been in this reality, we can’t remember some things from our reality.”

“C’mon, Sammy. You’re telling me that --”

“Dean… just… don’t.”

“Well, there’s the nightmare…” Jimmy brought up. “I remember what I wore there.”

Sam looked at him curiously. “And do you plan to wear what you did in the nightmare? If it triggers the nightmare for you, then maybe you shouldn’t.”

“You’re right. It wouldn’t be a good idea. But something about it -- it worked for me. Oddly, what I wore doesn’t bother me as much as the hell I was going through. I remember that I had a trenchcoat on.”

Dean started coughing. Sam glared at him. 

Dean apologized. “Sorry, got a tickle in my throat. Whatever. Yeah, trenchcoat. Sounds great. If you feel okay in that, go for it, Jimmy.”

Jimmy shrugged. “Maybe. I guess since Castiel began to communicate with me, I’m feeling better with what I have to let him do. Castiel doesn’t seem like the kind of an angel to make me suffer. I hope I’m right.”

“We’re glad to hear that, Jimmy.” Sam said with a smile. 

“Yep, one hundred percent,” Dean agreed.

The conversation ended there as the three focused on packing and leaving the motel.

*

Demons were waiting for them outside the motel. They surrounded the Impala, preventing them from making a quick exit.

"Well? What d'you asshats want? Are you just gonna stand there or--?" Dean asked, dropping his duffle bag and pulling out his gun.

"We won't let the human consent. We will stop you."

"You can't. This is God's plan. None of you can compete with that." Sam said confidently.

All the while, his worry grew when Jimmy leaned heavily on him. Then he coughed, a painful sounding cough in Sam's opinion. He tried not to look at the blood that he coughed up landing on the ground. So unfortunately Jimmy had been right. God's possession of Jimmy was beginning to affect him in a bad way. Now it wasn't just about consent, but making sure Jimmy lived long enough to say yes.

"You think so little of us. You are wrong. We are many. God is only one."

Dean smirked. "Well he _is_ a pretty big One. Not his biggest fan, but I'm placing my bets on him over you clowns."

"Think you can take us?"

"Come closer and I'll show you what I can do, you sons of bitches."

Sam saw Jimmy put his hand to his forehead. "They're coming."

He looked up at the sky. 

"Who's coming?" Sam asked.

The sky darkened and thunder boomed with lightning flashing across the sky.

The demons looked up in surprise. Dean shot at a few of them with devil's trap bullets, demons dropping one by one. The remaining ones left standing looked worried as the sky grew more ominous.

"Help," Jimmy said in a whisper. 

Sam had to pull him up as Jimmy was close to collapsing on the ground.

"Jimmy, maybe you should say yes now… Castiel could help."

"No. It's not the right time."

Gabriel appeared then before Sam could answer Jimmy.

"You three can't be here. Thank me later."

He called Dean over and touching all of them, he teleported them out. 

They landed outside of Jimmy's house.

Jimmy nearly fell to the ground. 

"Can you heal him?" Sam asked Gabe. "I'm not sure how long he has."

"I'm fine. Just tired. It's okay," Jimmy insisted.

He sat down on the curb by his driveway. He put his head down, his fingers pressing at the back of his neck. Like he was trying to massage the pain away.

Dean looked at him in disbelief. "Really, man?"

"I'll do what I can. What Jimmy has can't be permanently fixed."

Jimmy looked up at Gabe. "That's okay. I'll cease to exist soon either way," he said, his tone casual.

"That's a winning spirit," Gabe said dryly.

Sam gave him an impatient look.

"Right. Healing."

Gabe knelt down in front of Jimmy and put his finger against his brow.

After a few minutes, Gabe removed his hand and he stood up. “How are you?”

Jimmy looked thoughtful. “My head isn’t pounding like it was before. Thank you. Not sure how long this healing will last.”

“It will see you through the next few hours at least,” Gabe assured him. “We’re coming to the end of the road. We have to get Castiel down here.”

Jimmy nodded. “I understand.”

Slowly, he stood up. Sam moved forward to assist him, but Jimmy raised his hand. “I’m good. But thank you.”

Turning away from them, Jimmy looked up at his house. “I need to do this alone. I’ll be fine,” he said, without even looking back at them.

“All right. We’ll wait for you,” Dean told him.

It was then Jimmy stopped and faced them. He gave them a small smile. “I appreciate that.”

He headed inside his house, closing the door behind him.

“I’m not sure about him being alone,” Sam said, looking uncertainly at the house.

Dean shrugged. “Gotta let Jimmy be. He has to give up control soon, so we should respect his choice now. It’ll be one of the last times he can make his own decisions.”

Sam sighed, and he nodded. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said. He focused his attention on Gabe who was still there, not having flown off as he thought he would.

“So what was that outside of the motel? With the sky?” Sam asked Gabe.

Gabe looked up from studying his fingers, looking rather bored. “Oh, the angels were going to smite those demons. It would have poisoned the surrounding area for humans. You two would have gotten the smiting sickness.”

“What the hell is the smiting sickness?” Dean demanded.

“Good thing you didn’t stick around to find out,” Gabe said.

“Does this mean the other angels are helping us? They’re supporting God’s plan?” Sam asked him.

“Yeah. Took some convincing. Fortunately, Castiel and I got them to go along with the plan. Some weren’t happy about it, but they fell in line in the end.”

“Why didn’t they back the plan before?” Dean wondered, his tone one of exasperation.

“Some rumors were circulating, which made Dad’s plan look bad. But Castiel and I straightened that out. Well, I better go. Got things to do.”

Gabe flew off before either of them could say a word.

Dean rolled his eyes. “Bastard. He knew we would ask about the rumors. He couldn’t wait to buzz off.”

“It doesn’t matter now, Dean. We’re so close to making things right. It’s not the time to be changing our minds,” Sam said. He looked tired and felt it too.

“Let’s go inside,” he said to Dean. He pointed in the direction of the door. 

“Fine. Whatever,” Dean muttered unhappily.

~ * ~

They had made sandwiches for themselves in the kitchen. It was a late lunch, but all the same they were hungry and needed to eat something. 

Dean brought up about how he was going to tear Gabe a new one due to leaving the Impala back by the motel. He would have to take a walk there to retrieve the car. But Sam countered with the belief that they probably wouldn’t need the Impala. They could borrow Jimmy’s car or if Castiel was going to possess Jimmy here, then maybe they could ask him to transport them somewhere. Preferably the Bunker -- no better place to be than at home as the world ended. 

Dean simply wanted the Impala back. Didn’t matter if they were okay without her-- the Impala was his to drive and to take care of. And he would walk miles to get her back. Sam let him be that way. He said he would stay at Jimmy’s while Dean did his trek. After all, Jimmy really shouldn’t be left alone.

Dean seemed satisfied with the game plan. They continued to eat their sandwiches and drink their beers and water (at Sam’s insistence, for “hydration”, even if Dean didn’t see the point since they would “cease to exist” anyway). 

“Hey Dean.” Sam spoke after several long minutes of silence.

“Yeah?” Dean asked. 

“I was thinking what if in the new reality, I die? If I do the Trials there and for some reason, Cas can’t help me. Maybe…”

“No,” Dean interrupted, angry Sam would even think that. “You’re  _ not  _ gonna die, okay? You got that, Sam? I will find a way. If Cas can’t help, then there  _ will _ be another way. I promise, Sammy, you are not going to die. So don’t you dare think about it. Understand me?”

“Dean…” Sam said, sounding sad. “We won’t remember any of this. I appreciate the promise, but it’ll be forgotten when the reality changes.”

“Fuck that. I get that, but it matters now, okay? We remember  _ now _ . So believe me. Even after we’re rebooted, I will do all I can to save you. I don’t need to remember what we’re doing now to do that. Protecting you is  _ my job _ .”

Sam nodded, but he still frowned. “Yeah, I hear you,” he said quietly.

Dean shook his head. He wasn’t thrilled with Sam appearing to give up, to accept that maybe in the new reality, he  _ would _ die.

“I’m going to check on Jimmy,” Dean declared.


	3. Chapter 3

Though the master bedroom door was left ajar, Dean still knocked on it to announce his presence. 

He could see Jimmy standing before a mirror, his hands gripping the edge of the vanity. He had added a grey tie over his white shirt. Dean was sure the tie was the only addition. As Jimmy already had on the white shirt and black dress pants before. It had been almost an hour since they had split up, and it looked like Jimmy hadn’t done much in the way of changing. 

“Hey, it’s me. Can I come in?” Dean asked. He took a step forward inside the room.

Jimmy turned to face him. He gave him a smile that was more frown than smile. “Of course.”

Turning away from the mirror, Jimmy leaned against the furniture behind him. His shoulders slumped and he looked miserable.

Dean grabbed the chair by the small round table in the corner of the room. He sat down across from Jimmy.

“Having trouble?” Dean spoke first when it looked like Jimmy wasn’t going to say anything.

Jimmy looked down at himself as if he was surprised at what he had on. He smoothed down his tie, biting his lip as he did so. 

“I’m sorry. I know what I want to wear. I was just thinking,” Jimmy admitted.

“About what?”

“Castiel told me that I would be sent up to Heaven. He can’t shield my soul from the excruciating pain required to change reality. I guess I’m just his way to be on Earth and then I’ll be kicked out of my own body,” Jimmy said, his tone coming out harsh toward the end. He closed his eyes, sighed, then opened them again. He shrugged. The next words he spoke were kinder. As if he’d realized what he’d just was unnecessarily harsh. “Although, I am glad that he told me ahead of time. And that he’s being merciful -- stopping me from feeling the pain.”

“I’m sorry, Jimmy. That does suck. I hope Castiel is true to his word though. Then you’ll have real proof that he isn’t the product of that nightmare those demons dumped on you.”

Jimmy walked over to the bed and sat down at the foot of it. Dean maneuvered his chair to face Jimmy.

“Yes, I hope so. But what he said about being sent to Heaven, I realized… I’m going to die soon. Even if Gabriel said his healing on me wouldn’t last, I was feeling better. I had hope that I would live. If I didn’t think about ceasing to exist, everything was looking better. It’s good to know that my wife and daughter are not playing pawns for demons any longer. That they are at peace. Now knowing I will die… that it’s inevitable. And then ceasing to exist after that, it’s not easy to accept.”

“But you’ll get to see your family again in Heaven, right? Look on the bright side.”

Jimmy nodded, but he still looked upset. “I know. I have to try to make the best of this awful situation. That’s why I stopped putting on my outfit… recognizing that this will be the last thing I will ever wear. They might as well be my funeral clothes. If Castiel wasn’t taking over my body, they would be.”

“I wish I knew the right thing to say, man… but you just gotta focus on the good things. Even if there’s not a lot of good things to hold on to. You have to make the effort even if it hurts like hell. Sam and I are here for you.”

He smiled weakly at Dean. Though when he spoke, it was sincere. “Thank you.”

Jimmy continued on, surprising Dean with what he said next. “How are you doing? Knowing you’ll cease to exist along with Sam.”

“I’m good. Compared to what you have to deal with, it’s not worth talking about.” Dean assured him. 

Although he personally felt his argument with Sam was worth talking about. He hated thinking about his little brother worrying about dying in this new reality.

Despite that, he didn’t want to drag Jimmy into his own mess of problems. The older man was about to be possessed and die soon after.. Dean thought it would be a bad idea to add his drama to what Jimmy already had to deal with.

"Please. I want to hear it," Jimmy insisted. "I could use the distraction. Unless you want to talk about it with Sam?"

Dean sighed. "That's the problem. I can't talk to Sam about this. He's worried that he'll die in the new reality. I did my best to make it clear that I won't let him die. I'll do everything I can."

"Why does Sam think he'll die?" Jimmy looked confused. 

Dean rubbed the back of his head. "Well uh in our reality our Cas healed Sam. It was almost too good to be true how easy it was. Unfortunately Sammy's got this fear that in the new reality, Cas won't be there to save his life. It's crazy. Why the hell would God get us to help him if he's just going to turn around and have one of us die in the new reality? That would be an all around crap thing to do. Don't you think?" Dean asked Jimmy.

He nodded. "That would be terrible. But Sam has every right to feel that way. It's his life on the line. Maybe he needs some time for your words to sink in. He may know you'll do everything to save him, but the fear and worry are stronger right now."

"Yeah, yeah. I guess so. Sam knows how far I'll go to save his life. And I bet he doesn't want that on his conscience. That I have to pay a high price so he could live. I made a demon deal once..."

"I know Castiel along with other angels pulled you out of Hell. You're not thinking of making another demon deal?" Jimmy asked. His eyes widened.

Dean frowned. "Hell no. I don't want it to come to that. But I can't predict what I'll be pushed to do when I get rebooted. One way or another, Sammy will live. Wish he'd accept that and stop fearing what I will never let happen."

"Some things are out of your control." Jimmy reminded him sadly. "I should know."

"Yeah," Dean could only say.

He stood up from his chair and sat down beside Jimmy on the bed. He put his arm around his shoulders and embraced him. 

"You looked like you needed it," Dean told him. 

"Thanks. I mean it," Jimmy said, smiling.

"No problem. I'll leave you to finish up."

Dean stood up and went to leave the room.

"I'll be there soon!" Jimmy called out as Dean closed the door behind him.

~ * ~

Jimmy entered the living room. Sam and Dean looked up from where they sat on the couches. Dean had been trying to convince Sam not to think about his potentially dying in the new reality. Dean wished he would have been more successful, but it looked like Sam was keeping his stubborn streak and wouldn’t let Dean’s words get through his big skull.

“You think this will be all right?” Jimmy asked them. “The tie was a Christmas gift from my daughter. It was the last Christmas we had--,” he paused, shaking his head. “That’s why I chose it.” 

Jimmy shrugged, trying to appear unaffected by the memory that was most likely coming to mind.

He was wearing a beige trenchcoat over a black suit with white dress shirt and grey tie. Only the tie was different from what their Cas wore.

Dean gave a thumbs up. “Yeah, looks great. Your daughter picked a good tie.”

Sam smiled. “I agree. But most important, are you ready?”

Jimmy shook his head. “I don’t think I’ll ever be, but I accept that I have to do this.”

Someone started knocking hard on the front door. Then they heard more knocking on the door as if others had joined in. 

As Dean peered out the window, he grimaced. “Damnit. There are demons outside. Thought that angel smiting would have been enough for them.”

“We’ll be ready,” Sam said.

Sam went over and he put his arms around Jimmy, hugging him. “I’m glad to have known you,” he told him.

“Me too,” said Jimmy. He returned the embrace.

The knocking grew louder and voices came through with threats of torture and death.

Dean hugged Jimmy as well after Sam stepped away from him. “Hope you find what you’re looking for Upstairs,” he said.

“Thanks,” Jimmy said, face falling a little at Dean’s words. 

He probably didn’t need the reminder of his impending death.

“Sorry… thank you,” Jimmy was quick to add. “I’m looking forward to seeing my family again.”

“What’s going on?” Sam cut in, looking between the two with a question in his eyes.

Jimmy explained, “My soul will be sent up to Heaven after I’m possessed. The shift to the new reality will be very painful according to Castiel. He told me he can’t protect me from that.”

“So you’re going to die,” Sam finished.

“Yes, then cease to exist like everyone else. But at least I’ll have some time with my family before that happens,” Jimmy said, trying to smile.

“I’m sorry it has to be like this,” Sam said, frowning.

“It’s okay,” Jimmy reassured him.

Now it sounded like the demons were hitting the door with something large. Dean wondered if it was the bark of the tree like you saw in the movies. How fuckin’ original. He rolled his eyes.

“Gotta do it now, Jimmy,” Dean said.

Jimmy sighed and then he nodded.

“I’m letting you in,” Jimmy said, raising his voice. He closed his eyes, then he reopened them. “Castiel.” His voice faltered at the last word as if it was hard for him to say. It was almost as if Castiel’s name would unlock some Pandora’s box that Jimmy wasn’t fully prepared to open.

Items on tables started moving as if an earthquake was taking place. Glass shattered. The lights turned on and off. The TV powered on with only static showing on the screen, then turned off, and back on -- again and again in quick succession.

A bright light shone through the windows. Then the light came inside the living room, and entered Jimmy. His eyes glowed white briefly as Castiel took over his body.

Then his eyes returned to their previous blue color, but they did seem to still glow a bit.

Even as the banging at the door became louder and more insistent, Castiel appeared not to be concerned. He flexed and extended his fingers on one hand and then the other as if to test his new human form.

Dean looked from the door to Castiel. 

He spoke up, feeling his adrenaline spike as he felt those demons could barge in any second now. “All right, those demons aren’t the most patient sons of bitches.”

Castiel stared at Dean like he was an alien, then he tilted his head as if he was confused by what he just said. Great, Dean thought, Castiel 1.0. Just what he needed right now.

Sam looked tired as he said, “Dean, remember Cas said he was about the size of the Chrysler building. He has to get used to his new, _smaller_ form.”

“He is not wrong,” Castiel finally spoke, his voice sounding stiff, but it was deeper than Jimmy’s voice. 

It was the same voice they were used to from their Cas, but this version of Castiel was more reminiscent to the earlier days with him pre-Lucifer rising.

“All right, whatever. As long as you can smite those demons, then you can do all the “getting used to” you want. You mind dealing with them now? Before they kick down the door and kill us all?” Dean asked him, waving his hand at the door. 

“I’m surprised they haven’t tried teleporting inside,” Sam said, looking curious.

“Yeah, be quiet about that, Sammy. They could hear you and get ideas. Hopefully they can’t teleport. Maybe that’s why they haven’t done it yet.”

They turned back to face Castiel but all they heard was a rustle of wings as he disappeared. 

Sam and Dean exchanged looks with one another before they rushed to the door and headed outside.

They found Castiel standing there only a few feet away from the door. The demons just stood there, facing him. Maybe they were waiting for Castiel to make the first move. Sam and Dean both moved to position on either side of Castiel.

Castiel looked at each of them as if puzzled why they were there.

“You should stand back,” he told Sam and Dean. 

Dean was annoyed, but Sam grabbed his arm and pulled him back. They walked back to the door. 

“You are only one angel. What can you do against all of us?” One demon spoke up.

Castiel turned to look at the group of demons staring him down.

He put up one hand in Sam and Dean’s direction and then he began to speak to the demons.

“I am enough,” Castiel said. Dean guessed he was using his true voice considering how the demons were reacting. He saw the ears of the human vessels the demons possessed had begun to bleed.

The demons fell to the ground, covering their ears from the excruciating sound. Somehow Castiel was keeping Sam and Dean from suffering the same effects. Dean remembered dealing with Castiel’s true voice years ago. He was grateful he didn’t have to go through it this time around.

A few demons attempted to smoke out of their vessels, but Castiel teleported and smited each of them with a hand to the forehead.

Some tried to escape, but Castiel got them all. Others remained on the ground, still nursing their bloody ears.

The demons subdued, Castiel turned back to Sam and Dean. He placed one finger on each of their foreheads.

Dean reflexively stumbled back, not sure what Castiel was planning to do. Since he just saw Castiel smite the demons that way.

“I will return,” Castiel said, his voice business-like.

Then Sam and Dean found themselves standing in the war room of the bunker. Dean couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Of course he should have realized Castiel was transporting them. He wouldn’t smite them. Yet being unfamiliar with this reality’s Castiel, Dean felt justified with his prior uneasiness.

“I’m gonna get some beers. You in?” Dean asked Sam.

Sam shrugged. “Sure. Why not? With this world ending, might as well.”

So a few minutes later, the pair of them sat at the table drinking beer and trying not to dwell on the unknown of the new reality that was to come.

Almost an hour later, Castiel reappeared, his wings rustling signaling his presence.

“Hello, Sam, Dean,” he said to each of them in turn.

Dean almost wanted to laugh as even the pleasantry seemed to be an effort for him. But at least Castiel was trying.

“Hi Castiel,” Sam said with a smile. 

“Yeah, hey. Took your time, huh?” Dean asked.

“I required the time to insure Jimmy’s soul was safely in Heaven,” Castiel informed him. 

“Did he say anything?” Sam asked. 

Castiel nodded. “He was grateful for how the two of you helped him.”

“I’m glad. I hope he’s happy now with his wife and daughter,” Sam said.

“He is complete,” Castiel assured.

“That’s comforting. Thanks,” Dean said, his tone sarcastic.

Sam gave him a peeved look.

Castiel stared at Dean in confusion, like he didn’t comprehend how weird and almost cold his wording was.

“I am sorry if you don’t find that reassuring,” Castiel told him.

Sam gave a chuckle. “Looks like Castiel got your sarcasm, Dean,” he pointed out.

“Whatever. So something stuck during Humanity 101 class.”

Castiel tilted his head again at Dean. “What is Humanity--?”

Sam interrupted Castiel’s question, for concern Dean would give the angel some smartass answer. And that wouldn’t help anyone right now.

“Don’t worry about it, Castiel. Sometimes Dean says things and you have to tune him out,” Sam advised him.

Dean rolled his eyes.

Castiel nodded at Sam. “All right.”

“We ready to get this show on the road?” Dean brought up.

Castiel nodded. “It is near the time.”

“Do we need to do anything?” Sam asked the angel.

He shook his head. “No. You only need to remain seated. The power is inside me. I must wait for God to activate it.”

About five minutes later, Castiel gripped the table hard and a bright light enveloped him. 

They couldn’t see Castiel anymore due to the light's strength. They were positive the light would have blinded them if they hadn’t covered their eyes.

Sam and Dean heard a loud scream and neither wanted to think that was Castiel’s voice. But Jimmy had told them that this process would be painful. Maybe even to an angel, not just for a human soul.

Sam wanted to say something, call out and see if Castiel was okay. But he wasn’t sure if that would be a bad thing -- that he would be taking away Castiel’s concentration from what needed to be done. He didn’t want the reality change to be screwed up because of him.

As everything around them began fading away, Sam said to Dean, “Don’t you dare make a demon deal to save my life, Dean. Promise me.”

Even if Sam knew it would be an empty promise since neither would remember any of this, he still couldn’t resist. Somehow he felt it was oddly reassuring to have Dean make him this promise now. When everything was vanishing around them, he could count on his older brother.

“Sure, Sammy. And back at ya, no demon deals to save me. Got it, Bitch?” He said.

Sam smiled. “Yeah, heard you, Jerk.”

Dean grabbed Sam’s hand and a moment later, the two of them were gone. Soon after, the table disappeared, the bunker, the whole of that reality… only the light that had overtaken Castiel remained.

Until the light dimmed and was gone too.

The new reality had been formed.

~ * ~

**The End**


End file.
